Pipe organ



G. M. QUAVE May 3, 1938.

PIPE ORGAN Filed Feb. 7, 1956 IIIIIIIIIIIII .\\\\\\\\\\\Y Patented May3, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 12 Claims.

This invention relates to pipe organs and more particularly to means forimproving the tremolo effects therein.

The tremulant or tremolo is connected by a conduit to the bellows. Byits action of rhythmically and abruptly interrupting the escape of alarge stream of air, the tremolo causes the lid of the bellows tooscillate up and down, and thus produces a wavering or trembling qualityin the music being played. The bellows lid should swing in time with thebeat of the tremolo, therefore the lid should swing like the pendulum ofa clock, freely and uninterrupted to the end of its natural excursion onboth sides of any given or varying center. If the bellows lid isinterrupted in any of its excursions, it is thrown out of step with thetremolo, andwill presently cross over its time, and skip a beat, thusdestroying the beautiful effect of the music and tending to stop thetremolo.

The valves previously employed to regulate the flow of air into thebellows have been open to the objection that they did not have a freeand even movement at immediately below and immediately above theirclosing points, and thus seriously interfered with the action of thetremolo when the organist was playing soft music.

The old curtain valve, while it had no fixed closing point, still didnot work perfectly with the tremolo, for the curtain valve had nopositive action, but depended on gravity for its downward movement. Thevariations in the amount of air rushing under and against the rollercaused a variation in the movement of the roller. The action wasnt quickenough to keep the strings taut, and they would often jump from theirpulleys, or cause a swinging motion of the yoke which would affect thefree action of the valve. The binding of the cords where they were woundin the grooves at the ends of the roller, and the frequent rubbing ofthe cords against the holes through which they pass, caused anunevenness in the action of this valve, and prevented its synchronousaction with the tremolo.

The pivoted disk valve used in the conduit from the blower, is opened bya chain over a pulley, and closed with a weight. It has a rigid closingpoint.

The hinged flap or door Valve, and the con valve, whilehaving a positiveaction, being operated by means of a rod from the bellows lid, have thedefect of a fixed and rigid seat at their closing point. When playingthe organ on a dry day, when the joints in the organ have shrunk and aquantity of air is escaping, these valves stay at a considerabledistance from their seat, and the tremolo may be used satisfactorilywith soft music. But on damp days, when the organ is tight, if softmusic requiring a very small quantity of air is played, the valveremains near its seat. Should the tremolo now be turned on, the bellowslid will begin to oscillate up and down. These upward excursions of thebellows lid are often interrupted by the striking of the valve againstits rigid seat. This, as explained above, interferes with the action ofthe tremolo.

An object of the present invention is to provide bellows valves whichallow an even and free oscillation of the bellows. lid when the tremolois used.

Another object of the invention is to provide an organ bellows with anon-stop type of Valve which will not interfere with the action of thebellows lid when the tremolo is used.

A further object is to provide an improved type of valve for organbellows which will be silent and free acting under all conditions ofuse.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following specification when taken with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view, with parts in section, of an organwhich includes a tremolo, a bellows and bellows valve embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the lower wall of the bellows andthe valve mounted there- Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of thebellows valve;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of an organ bellows and another type of thesame valve;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sleeve of the valve shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the sleeve of the valve shown in Fig. 4;and

Fig. "I is a fragmentary sectional view of a modification which omits aseparate air box.

In the drawing, the reference numeral l identifies a plurality of pipeswhich are stepped into the beam and slide assembly 2. The air supply tothe pipes is through the wind box 3 and trunk 4, and this supply iscontrolled by keys 5 or pedals, not shown, in the usual manner.

The trunk 4 opens into the bellows which may be a box or compartmenthaving a lower Wall 6 and rigid side walls I which are joined to the lid8 by a flexible bellows section 9. The bellows is seated upon the airbox 10 which receives air under pressure from a blower, not shown,through conduit II.

From the bellows opens another conduit l2 which carries the air supplyto the tremolo. When this supply is admitted to the tremolo by a slide13 it passes into wind box l4 through valve 15 into a compartment of thetremolo having a flexible wall l6, and escapes through a vent ll of theweighted lid H3. The parts so far described may be of any conventionalor desired design as the exact construction is not a material part ofthis invention.

The bottom wall 6 of the bellows has a large opening 19 in alignmentwith a smaller opening or valve port 19' in the upper wall of the intakebox. As shown in the perspective view, Fig. 3, the port opening I9 is ofrectangular form and the valve 20 is a rectangular block of wood, withslightly rounded edges, which has a slight clearance, say about 1/64inch, around it through which a small quantity of air passes in theclosed position of the valve. This is offset by the leakage through theorgan, and allows the valve to move freely. In a bellows having a topwall three feet square, the valve 20 may be, for example, a wooden blockabout 4 inches wide, 8 inches long and 2 inches thick. The metal rod 2!extends centrally through the valve and is pivoted in a bore whichextends through the upper wall of the inlet box It), the ends of thisbore being sealed by plugs 22. The valve may, of course, be pivotallymounted in other ways, for example, in a board I 00 secured to theunderside of the bellows, and other arrangements for supplying air tothe bellows, such as the supply conduit llll, Fig. 7, may be used. Awood block 23 is fixed to one end of the valve 20 and is bored toreceive one bent end of a metal rod 24. The opposite bent end of rod 24extends through a similar wood block 25 that is fixed to a plate 26 thatis fixed over an aperture into the top wall 8 of the bellows by anyconvenient means, not shown, such as screws or cement. The purpose ofthe aperture in the bellows lid 8 is to allow an entrance for assemblingthe valve. The rod is fitted with washers at blocks 23 and 25, and isheld in place by cotter pins. The wooden parts that form bearings forthe operating rod 24 and the pivot rod 2|, also the edges of the valve20 are lubricated, preferably graphited, to reduce friction and preventnoisy operation.

Another form of this valve which has no rigid seat for a stopping pointand allows the bellows to oscillate in perfect time with the tremolo isshown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The bellows and intake box may besubstantially as described above, except that the adjoining walls of thebellows and air box are provided with centrally aligned circularopenings through which the sleeve 21 of the valve mechanism extends.This sleeve may be formed of sheet metal, for example sheet iron, and itmay be conveniently supported in proper position by a flange 28 that issecured to the sleeve and has apertures for receiving attaching screwsthat hold the flange in tight engagement with a washer 29 on one of thewalls through which the sleeve passes, which wall may be, as is shown inFig, 4, that of the air box. Both ends of the sleeve 21 are open and theportion which extends into the bellows is imperforate. The lower portionof the sleeve is provided with a plurality of parallel slots 30 which,in the aggregate, may occupy about one-half of the cylindrical surfaceof that portion of the sleeve which is positioned within the air box.The sleeve is of such length that the piston valve never passes beyondthe sleeve during any normal operation of the system, i. e., the sleeveis substantially longer than the range of movement of the piston valve.

The valve proper may take the form of a wooden disk 3| which fitsloosely within the sleeve and. has a ring of soft, tough leather 3|secured to its lower surface and projecting so that it comes intoapproximate contact with the sleeve. The. slight clearance left betweenthe disk and sleeve, possible because some leakage of air into thebellows is offset by the leakage through the organ, forms a noiselessand almost frictionless bearing of air around the piston and allows itto ride perfectly free. The disk 31 is centrally apertured to fit uponthe lower end of a rod 32 that is fixed to a board 33 carried by thebellows lid 8, and washers 34 are arranged between the clamp nuts 35 toprovide air tight joints.

Both of the illustrated forms of valves operate positively noiselesslywith no appreciable friction, and admirably perform the function of anorgan bellows valve. When the pedals (not shown) or keys are actuated toopen the valves of the organ pipes, air passes to them from the bellows,through the trunk 4, the lid 8 of the bellows sinks and the metal rodcarries the valve downwardly. When the valve opens, compressed airenters the bellows and tends to again close the valve as the airpressure acts upon the large area of the bellows lid 8. In addition tothis function, which is performed more or less well by all organ bellowsvalves, both of the illustrated valves perform another very importantfunction, that of freely oscillating in time with the beat of thetremolo. When a large amount of air is withdrawn suddenly by turning onthe tremolo, the bellows lid 8 drops quickly, carrying its valve withit. The compressed air rushes from the bellows well into the tremolo,through the open valve I5, forces up lid I8 of the tremolo bellows,which abruptly closes the felt-padded valve IS. The bellows lid 8 thenswings upward, carrying its valve. The air trapped in the bellows of thetremolo escapes through vent l1, weighted lid l8 falls, opening valvel5, through which compressed air again rushes from the organ bellows.This action is repeated rhythmically. The bellows lid 8 often swingshigh enough to carry the valve slightly above its closing point, but asit is impossible'for the valve to seat against a stop surface, the lidof the bellows can complete its upward swing without interruption, andthus beat in perfect time with the tremolo.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention shown anddescribed are the preferred forms but that the invention contemplatessuch other modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. In a pipe organ, the combination with a plurality of pipes, abellows, a trunk connecting said pipes and bellows, and an air intakebox having an opening in the upper wall thereof, said bellows beingseated on said intake box and having an opening alined with said airintake box opening, of a valve controlling communication between saidintake box and said bellows, and an operating member for said valveconnected to the upper rigid wall of said bellows, said valve being ofthe non-stop type.

2. A pipe organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of the alinedopenings of said intake box and 75 bellows is of rectangular form, andsaid valve comprises a rectangular member pivotally supported in saidrectangular opening.

3. A pipe organ as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opening in said airintake box is of rectangu lar form, and said valve is a rectangularblock pivotally supported in the rectangular opening of said intake box.

4. In a pipe organ, the combination with a bellows having a floating topwall, and an air intake box below said bellows, said bellows and airintake box having alined openings forming a passage between the same, ofa valve in and of smaller size than said passage to leave a leakageopening entirely around said valve when the latter stands in closedposition, and operating means connected between said valve and thefloating top wall of said bellows.

5. In a pipe organ, the combination with a bellows having a floatinglid, and an air box beneath said bellows, of a valve sleeve mounted onthe bottom wall of said bellows and extending in opposite directionstherefrom, the portion of the sleeve within the bellows beingimperforate and the portion within the air box being apertured, a pistonvalve within said sleeve for controlling air flow through saidapertures, and means rigidly connecting said piston valve to saidbellows lid, said sleeve being unobstructed and open at both ends and ofa length exceeding the range of movement of the piston valve. 6. In apipe organ, the combination with an air box and a trunk leading to organpipes, of a bellows connected between said air box and trunk, saidbellows comprising a bottom and rigid side walls joined to a lid by aflexible wall section, an opening in said bottom wall, a sleeveextending through said opening, an exterior flange on said sleeve andseated on said bottom wall, said sleeve being imperforate above saidbottom wall and apertured below the same, a piston valve within saidsleeve, and means rigidly securing said piston valve to the bellows lid.

'7. The invention as claimed in claim 6, wherein said valve comprises adisk and a flexible ring on said disk having a loose fit within saidsleeve.

8. The invention as claimed in claim 6, wherein said valve comprises adisk and a flexible ring on said disk having a loose fit within saidsleeve; and said securing means comprises a rod secured to the bellowslid and means rigidly attaching said disk to said rod.

9. A pipe organ having an air control assembly of the type including abellows having a floating lid, an air box beneath said bellows, and avalve actuated by said lid to control the flow of air from said air boxinto said bellows, characterized by the fact that said valve includes asleeve open at both ends and extending into the air box and bellowsrespectively, and a piston valve in said sleeve and secured .to saidbellows lid.

10. A pipe organ comprising a plurality of pipes, and means forsupplying air under pressure to said pipes; said means comprising abellows having a floating lid, an air conduit beneath the bottom of saidbellows, a valve sleeve mounted on the bottom wall of said bellows andextending in opposite directions therefrom, the portion of the sleevewithin the bellows being imperforate and the portion within the conduitbeing apertured, a piston valve within said sleeve for controlling airflow through said apertures, and means connecting said piston valve tosaid bellows lid.

11. In a pipe organ, the combination with an air box and a trunk forsupplying air to organ pipes, of a bellows between said air box andtrunk, said bellows having opposite walls flexibly connected to form achamber of variable size, an opening in one of said walls affordingcommunication with said air box, a tubular sleeve extending through saidopening, a sliding valve in said sleeve, said sleeve being open at bothends and having a perforate and an imperforate wall section located atopposite sides of said opening, and means connecting said valve to theother of said opposite walls.

12. A pipe organ comprising a plurality of pipes, means for supplyingair under pressure to said pipes for sounding the same, and key-actuatedmeans for controlling the flow of air to said pipes; said air supplymeans comprising a bellows having a lid flexibly connected to the bottomwall, an air conduit beneath the bottom wall, a trunk opening out of thebellows to pass air to the pipes, a sleeve extending through said bottomwall into the bellows, the portion of the sleeve at one side of thebottom Wall being imperforate and that at the opposite side beingapertured, and a sliding valve within said sleeve, and fixed to saidlid,

. GEORGE M. QUAVE.

